Jackson DR7 7-String

Mine has custom artwork on it. The body is a super-strat style. Tune-O-Matic bridge, no-name tuners, thin neck, 22 jumbo frets, Duncan Invader 7 string pickup in the bridge (obviously, aftermarket). Mine has no neck pickup (though it should) because the hole has been filled for the artwork.

I play everything. I'm a shredder by nature in the solos, fast in the rhythm and delicate in the cleans. Honestly, I'm VERY surprised with this little guitar. I've been playing for deep into 9 years now, and I've played LOTS of guitars. I've heard all the "makes the transition to 7-string easy," and played almost every mid-range to expensive (not custom!) 7-string out there. The Ibanez'es necks are too fat (even on the Universe and their lesser 7-stringers), the Schecters are waaay too cheap, the Fenders are toys, and the ESP's don't sound "right."

Maybe it's the pickup (IMHO, it almost mirrors my EMG-85 in all my other guitars), maybe I just got lucky, but this cheap little guitar has the music in it! I'd never actually owned a 7-string before this one (couldn't find one that I liked/wanted), but I figured I'd give it a try.

The fretboard feels great. It's just a wider (not fatter!) version of all of the other Jackson 6-string necks. It shreds exactly like my other Jacksons, just with an extra string. Seriously, if you like Jackson guitars, want a 7-string, and don't have a bunch of $$ to spend, get one of these guitars! Scrap the junk factory pickups, put something nice in there. I hate Seymour-Duncan pickups with a passion; they just sound bad, in general. But their 7-string invader sounds just like an EMG-85, so get one of those in the bridge and you'll be happy.

Cheap guitar, and I bought it used. Can't rate this category, since everything has been messed with prior to my owning it.

The factory tuners seem to want to loose their tune after a while. I'd recommend replacing them, but c'mon, this is a cheap guitar. If I wanted a flawless instrument, I'd have had a custom one made. The strap buttons are solid, the bridge is great, and everything works as advertised.

I wouldn't know

Overall, for what this guitar wants to be (an entry-level 7-string guitar for wannabe metalheads), it's not bad at all. If you invest roughly $200 into this guitar (pickup, tuners), you'll have a really nice sounding 7-string guitar that you'll want to play for many, many years until you're ready for something more serious. As I said, I've been playing for just 9 years, but I've got a pretty good idea of what I want in a guitar, and this guitar didn't let me down like most of the other 7-stringers out there.

Honestly, unless you can shred or need a 7th string for some clean work, 7-strings are pretty useless for a beginner (which this guitar is geared for). I guess if you really wanted to chug-chug-chug, 7-string would be a ticket, but they tend to sound muddy when playing the lower notes fast, especially on rhythm, reguardless of pickups or distortion. If you want to know what playing a 7 sounds like, just get the strings for a 7, tune it like a 7, except loose the high E. If you like it and miss that high E, get a 7 string. If you think it sounds too loose, I promise, 7 string guitars don't have black magic in them that makes them sound better.

2003 Jackson DR7 7-String guitar. 22 Frets, with a laminated top. Has 1 Volume and 1 Tone knob. 3-way Pickup selector togle (wouldv'e liked a push/pull pot switch as well, but oh well). Dual Duncan design Passive humbuckers. No idea bout the body type, however it has String thru body design with a tune-o-matic type bridge. I bought mine without a case or gig bag, as it was a last of the run model (Don't think they make em anymore???) I'm actually having a bitch of a time finding a hard case that it fits into. Good piece of kit for $800AU

First and foremost, I play metal. This guitar is pretty good for it, however a flatter neck would undoubtedly benifit this guitar to no end. I'm running it through a Marshall AVT 150 head with a 1960 series quad, and a boss GT6 effects pedal (THE BEST THING I EVER BOUGHT). It sounds great thru my setup, however, I think you'd be pretty hard pressed to find a guitar that you couldn't get at least one good sound out of with this rig. It's O.K. for clean, but I don't use that much anyhow.

When i got the guitar it had some of the worst strings i've ever played. But apart from that everything was as it should be for a guitar in this price range.. The strings I use on it aren't well suited to the nut (Too big) however, with a minimal amount of filing i was able to rectify this problem. There was no flaws to note.

My guitar has been dropped, kicked, and abused iin all sorts of ways. I was able to dent it, but nothing major (I like a bit of character about my guitars anyhow). The finish is thick, and isnt likely to rub off in one lifetime. I would not hesitate to use this for a gig, however my style of playing requires that I use more than one guitar on stage per night.

Never had a problem with it, so I have no idea about customer support, but I have heard that jackson Australia are great, so it's a tentative rating.

I've been playing for almost 14 years, and I can say that I have only played a handful of guitars which were better (including a Gibson Les Paul & SG, a Ibanez S series, and a Jackson dinky). This was by far the best value 7-string I could find (of the reasonable quality litter), and I have no hesitations reccommending it to a potential buyer.

2000 (or so)DR7 with Duncan Design pickups (that suck badly). I bought it used for $124.00 (a steal). 22 frets, plain black top that seems to grease up very easy (but a good cleaning now and then will make it good as new). Mine does not have the sharkfin inlays, but instead the plain old circular type. Free gig-bag that came complimenatry for taking this off guitardoctor's hands. For now, the sound is below average. A friend of mine teases me over how much better his Ibanez rg1527 sounds, and originally they were around the same price range. I am, however, planning to install Dimarzio Blaze or Air Norton into this guitar, and I expect it to kick ass.

I play pretty much everything, from harmonic clean riffs to heavy thrash. It can do a good job at that. I have a bad amp, so part of the sound issues can be blamed on that, but the pickups (as said before) are bad. I am going to replace them (as i also said before.

It can do decently with a distortion or metal pedal along it's side.

The pickups are good for high tones though. I can play a nice solo, even though the bridge is wide and flat.

It seems to be rich rather than Bright. My schecter c-1 has it beat for sound, but simply because of the whole neck-thru thing.

I have trouble coaxing a good harmonic out of this guitar. That is probably the low-gain pickups though.

It seems very contained as far as noise goes.

Overall, it's overpriced, but if you can get one under $300, then you've got a deal on your hands.

I am angry at it's lack of ability to host EMG pickups, but Dimarzio's are good anyway.

6, until i get my new p/u's installed.

Only flaw when I got it was its tuning, and it needed a cleaning.

This guitar has been dropped a few times... no marks, no scrapes... no nothing. I would never use anything in a gig without a backup.

Finish gets dirty easily and it shows easily, but it isnt coming off or anything.

Guitar Doctor was very helpful. Quick shipping, free gig bag, lots of stuff.

No experience with Jackson yet.

Been Playing since 3rd grade... a VERY long time ago.

It is...

better than...

Ibanez Ax 7 string
BC Rich warlock 7
Gibson 7 string Les Paul (they DO exist)

worse than...

Schecter C-7
Ibanez K-7

same as...

ESP M-207
Ibanez RG7421
Scecter 007 deluxe


overpriced, but good used (as i said before.)

Anyone who wants to play gigs with this guitar should consider factoring in money for new pickups into the guitar cost.

My Jackson DR7 was made in japan, has 22 frets, black gloss finnish, volume & tone controls, 3 way toggle switch, bolton neck, reverse sharkfin inlays, reverse headstock, dinky shaped body, tune-a-matic bridge with strings thru body, jackson machiene heads, 2 duncan designed passive humbucker pickups. alder body, maple neck & rosewood fingerboard.

The DR7 has a diverse sound that can produce great clean tones to very metal lead and rhythm tones. I play swedish style metal such as inflames, soilwork and opeth. But also like mellower clean guitar and was pleasantly surprised at the range of sounds. I haven't had this guitar particularly long but after owning a few ibanez 7s i immediatly loved the DR7 because the sound is what a 7 should sound like, if u want to have low tuned guitar, u need a guitar with the balls to back it up.

The DR7 was all up to standard, no complaints.

I haven't had this guitar for a great deal of time but, It does inspire confidence. I've owned 49 guitars and a number of jacksons (korean, japanese and usa) and stand by them completley. Korean models however have been quite unreliable.

Usa and Japanese models haven't faulted. But a number of korean models have and they were replaced. Once the replacement had to be replaced.

Ive been playing for over 8 years. Im a guitaraholic and im constantly
buying and trading guitars. But I feel like I've got a keeper with this one. Im trying to make my list of gear more practical by using more diverse gear and the DR7 is a big step in the right direction. For the price nothing else comes close for what I want.

Used 1999 model in black made in Japan. Alder body, 22 frets. Tune-O-Matic string-through bridge. Came with Jackson case. Two humbuckers, 3-way switch.

At first, I wasn't impressed with the sustain and shred-ability. But after tweaking the pickup height, I really like the sound of the stock pickups despite all the poor reviews for the Duncan-designed here. I can get really good sustain and pinched harmonics. The clean sound is also very full and robust.

It came setup with 10s and the neck angle put the bridge really high. After removing the neck and shimming (which is how I found the model number and year) I got the bridge down so the pickups weren't sticking clear out of the body. I put 9s on it (with a 54 B string).
With the exception of some dings in the body, this guitar is in great shape. The neck feels great and the rosewood is nice and dark.
I would have liked more switching options (split the humbuckers and put them in series, etc.)

This guitar is solid. The brushed chrome finish on the hardware seems to be holding up just fine. The strap locks were in good shape and the neck is straight as an arrow. This guitar feels like a tank. With the fixed bridge, I would definitely feel confident gigging without a backup (but no one ever does that!) Most of my other guitars having floating trems and they can bite you.

N/A

I've been playing for 14 years and this is my first Jackson and 7 string. I am very impressed with the quality of this guitar. I heard that any non-American Jackson was crappy, but this guitar is great. The DR7 was my cheap entry in the 7 string world and I love it. I would prefer to get an Ibanez RG7620 or RG1527 in the future.

Not sure of the year...but whatever, i love it anyway. 22 frets. solid black top.1 volume controll, 1 tone controll, 3-way selector. Stock pickups are fabulous compared to my old washburn wg.I think that they are seymour duncans.nice string thru bridge. if you push down on the strings a little beyond the bridge, you can use it as an e-bar.n came with a gig bag. fabulous!!!

It is great for korn, even though they use ibanez's. great for metal and even 6-string stuff. (i play metallica great, korn awesome, limp bizkit and slipknot great.). you can make it act like a bass when clean...if you change the tone selector/controll. i at this point, use it with flange, metal, and chorus effects. great heavy tone, both when clean and when dirty.

I got it used, but even when used, it seemed new. polish and all. thats it i guess.

would sound great live, very durable hardware, no chips, and its used. It would be ok without a bass or other guitar, but there's no replacement for bandmates.

nothing yet, but im feeling generous... wait! the guitardoctor, the place that i got it at was very nice.

Just got it a few months ago and im already in love. i own a danelectro hot dog flanger, a digitech metal master, a 30 watt amp (about to upgrade to a gibson metal player), and some times a digitech multi-effects pedal.if it were stolen... i would cry until i saved enough money to buy a new one or an ibanez rg (compared to ibanez rg7621 or 7620 and those are great too). KoRn rules and so does this axe!

2003 Model, made in Japan. 25.5" scale, 22 large frets, large cutaways, string thru with tune-o-matic style bridge. Came with solidly built hard case. 3 way selector switch linked to Duncan design hunbuckers, 1 master volume, 1 master tone. I would have liked to have had a coil split and perhaps a separate tone control for each humbucker.

I bought a 7 string mainly for AEADGBE tuning, to play metal. I use a Boss Metal Zone into an Ashdown Peacemaker 40 combo. When played clean, thse pickups have a good range when used in conjunction with the tone control. These are never to bassy and can be really glistening, especialy when playing chords on the bottom 4 strings. When distortion is added, they lose some definition, but other than that, perform very well with distorted chords. Nice sound!!

This guitar is PERFECTLY finished for ease of playability. The neck is a shallow D-shape, covered in a light lacquer that is extremly smooth and comfortable. The frets are nicely polished, and the action was spot on from the factory for my tastes. Intonation was slightly out, but what guitar isn't? The contols have a great action, smooth and responsive. The neck, despite being 7mm wider, doesn't feel any different my previous guitar, making the transition from a 6 to a 7 effortless. The only thing I would have liked to see is plastic pickup surrounds, as I have knocked the pickups and this may eventually damage the fixings after time. Also, the tuning is very stable.

The strap buttons, firstly, are sublime. They are very wide and so your strap has an extremely low chance of falling off. I have stopped using my straplocks on this guitar. The finish seems good quality, I haven't knocked it about enough to see how easily it chips. The hardware is very good quality and don't foresse any problems for years to come.

This is the best guitar I have played at this price level. It should cost at least #700 for it's great build quality, the neck and general setup. The pickups may need replacing if the sound doesn't suit you, but for what I play, at the moment it is fine. It needs a coil split for more versitality, but that can be done with a bit of soldering. I was thinking of buying an Ibanez RG7321, but this is a much better guitar, I think.

I just bought this guitar from Musician's Friend for $229. The price is amazing if you figure that this guitar previously listed at around $1000!

The guitar is a string-thru with brushed chrome on the tuners, bridge, etc. and the body is colored "Deep Candy Blue". I'm not a color professional, but it looks dark purple to me. The color looks like the color of a Minnesota Vikings' helmet. I would have rather had black, but the price definitely outweighs the color thing. Musician's Friend only has the Deep Candy Blue color unfortunately.

This guitar, although a 7-string, looks more like a shredder 6-string guitar. It has sharkfin inlays and is not big and bulky like most 7-strings. A 3-way selector is used for the pickups, which are passive duncan designed. The back of the neck is not painted, which is great for running your hand up and down the fretboard. A lot of the "options" are not what I look for in a 7-string, but they are nice extras.

Let's get the "meat and potatoes" out of the way right off the bat. I am not impressed with the pickups. Duncan Designed pickups have never impressed me, but I don't want to base the sound strictly on just the pickup sound. There is more to the sound than just that.

I plugged the guitar into my Tech 21 PSA-1 and hit a few chords. The B-tuning sounds great of course. Great crunch! The best thing is that even for a 7-string, this guitar has that easily accessible Jackson neck/fretboard that I love. Jacksons just seem easy to play and this one is no exception. I played little solos, etc. and that sounded great also.

The only thing I did notice is that the pickups don't seem very loud. I had to really turn my amp up from it's normal position to really hear the guitar. Again, this is obviously the pickups. I plan on probably throwing a Seymour Duncan Distortion 7-string when I get a chance.

I think this guitar has a lot of potential, but I gotta chuck that bridge pickup.

This is my second Jackson in approximately 6 months and I have been impressed at the condition of the guitar upon arrival at my door. This guitar came from Musician's Friend in a cardboard box (with no case mind you) and there were no scratches, dings, etc. Also, with the exception of two strings, the guitar was still in tune! Amazing figuring that I live all the way in Hawaii! Anything could have happened along the way. The only bad thing was a loose tone knob, but that is an easy fix.

I have heard bad things about the brushed chrome fixtures, so we will have to see. Jackson makes great guitars and I think everything will hold it's own. I would gig with this without a backup, but that really is not smart.

The Jackson site is great and is so informative that you almost don't need to get a hold of anyone for your questions, etc. There is a bulletin board, photos, etc. It is a great site and I visit it often.

This would not be my #1 choice if I could only have one guitar, but I could not pass on the price. The guitar could easily be a person's main guitar and it is perfect as a backup. I don't think it will replace my other Jackson, but it is an impressive guitar.

The sound of the neck pick-up for clean is unsurpassable though distorted it slightly lacks edge as does the bridge pick-up but at the same time they are both adequate pickups- together they sound nice and fat(a tiny bit of compression helps with edge).

when I saw the DR-7 it had horrible strings (i think 9-46+52)they were sloppy and went out of tune easily,When i bought it i got some 10-52+65 and it was perfect - BUT the B,E and A strings were too thick for the slots in the nut so I had to file them slightly.The other thing is that the neck and headstock are heavy and i found if i wore certain clothes the guitar would slip around.

i own a handmade 5-string with RGX112 humbucker,epiphone les paul and if i could make my DR-7 sound like either i would be in heaven i love it, it is a very sexy guitar,I also use a Behringer V-amp, on rectified with a little compression for edge.Its a hard working guitar that stands up to the test.

See other reviews for features. This one has the Jackson hard tail bridge string thru-body. Passive Seymour Duncan designed PUs. Alder body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard. Nice metal grey finish on the hardware, looks good. 25.5" scale. Nice hard case.

good tone. the low B isn't muddy like on the Ibanez 7 strings I played which is why I bought the DR7. the Duncan designed PUs have a rounded warm tone to them with just enough edge. nice and quiet also. for $220 bucks, it was the best bang for the buck.

I got it used and the idiot before had cranked the truss rod in several turns and raised the bridge to kingdom come. I had to keep adjusting her for a few weeks but the neck settled back down and she plays nice now and the action is superb. a nice comfortable neck radius too.

If you own guitars and can't set them up yourself, take them to a good guitar tech every so often to keep them "healthy".

typical japanese Jackson quality. it's good but not up to their USA shop standards. decent axe for the money.

the guys as Jackson Guitars are very kind and helpful. will share all kinds of info (unlike Mesa Boogie =)

good axe for the money. if money is tight and you want to play Dream Theater...get a DR7. otherwise buy a USA Jackson!